Bioshock Woes

    Some of you might not know this but I am a soldier deployed to Iraq which hampers my ability to play the latest games in a timely manner. So while other bloggers and gamers are enjoying the latest and greatest i sit patiently and wait for my copy to arrive. Bioshock, the latest addition to my game collection, didn’t come short of its own set of problems.

    First off, I could not get the game disk to even load on my machine. Oh it worked perfectly in other machines but not mine, so i thought my drive finally crapped out. Well much to my astonishment, every other game i had worked just fine in my ageing drive. So, naturally i thought that it might be a problem with securom not liking something about my windows set up.

   I started to experiement with other disk in my machine and noticed that CD-R’s were haveing the same issues as my Bioshock DVD so I ordered a new drive. One week later my drive arrives and i install it in my laptop. Same problem as before. My next step, format and reinstall. So now I have a fresh copy of Windows XP installed and a brand new drive and the game finally works, well sort of.

    Problem number 2, those damn drivers. Yes for some reason the developers of Bioshock and the engineers over at Nvidia decided that this game should require its own beta driver. While I really dont have a problem with installing new drivers to get a game to work correctly i just wish they would make one for my maching. Nvida and ATI  both have a problem with developing a driver for there laptop video cards.

     I have an Alienware laptop with an athlon 64 x2 4400+, 2 gigs of ram, and a nvidia go 7900GTX but i can only get around 10 FPS out of bioshock with my stock driver. Since Nvidia leaves the development of its laptop drivers up to the laptop manufactuer and Alienware is lazy, I can’t get a new driver. Luckily we have the internet and i found a very helpful website called http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ which has a team of hackers that edit the .INI files of desktop drivers to work on a laptop. I installed the latest hacked driver and now I can run Bioshock at a very respectable 20-30 FPS.

   Now that i finally have Bioshock up and running perhaps I can finish it soon and let every body know what i think of it. So far, aside from the install, it has been a great experience and i look forward to finishing it.

10 Reasons Why PC Gamers Are Better Than Console Gamers

10: The best platform

The PC is hands down the most powerful Gaming system ever!

9: The cutting edge

PC gamers have always enjoyed the newest trends in gaming technology first. Now with the advent of Direct X 10 console gamers are once again eating our dust.

8: We invented “HD”

PC gamers have always had and always will have the highest resolution graphics.

7: First in surround sound

PC Games were the first games to incorporate surround sound in the game code.

6: Online Gaming

Even with Xbox live, online gaming on a console will never come close to the experience you get on a PC. From user made mods, MMO’s, dedicated 3rd party servers,and free online communities like Steam or Xfire.

5: Better Controls

We don’t have to dumb down our interfaces to accommodate the limited button on a game pad. We don’t have to slow down our first person shooters to accommodate a thumb stick. We don’t use fucking auto aim! Lastly, I don’t even understand how a real time strategy can be fun on a game pad.

4:Multi-tasking

Lets see you check your email, update your blog, get the weather, encode a video, all while earning Peggle grandmaster on a Playstation.

3:Our machines look better

Nice faceplate you Xbox fanboy. My rig has been custom designed from the ground up to have an original look. Laser cut from sheet metal filled with more lights than the skies over area 51, this liquid cooled machine is sure to impress.

2:We are elite

PC Gamers are hands down the best gamers. We have more talent, better skills, and better games than any console player can match.

1:We are damn sexy!

Often you will see a PC gamer tote a 24 inch monitor, full ATX tower sporting duel video cards and 6 hard drives, and on occasion a full surround sound system up and down stairs and across parking lots to get to there next LAN party. This will burn calories faster than Richard Simmons on crack.

Team Fortress 2

Well I know that I’m a little late but i finally got around to installing TF2 and as expected, it was well worth the wait. I can remember salivating over the first screen shots back in 1999 and thinking how close it was to being finished. Seven years later and it finally arrived, and I must say that I am glad that they took the extra time and made it perfect. I only had time to play a couple of rounds but I think it is safe to say that this will be a contender for many best multiplayer game of the year awards. The only downfall that I can point out at the moment is the lack of grenades. The creative grenades were one of the things that got me hooked into the game in the first place but hopefully this loss is only minimal and the game will live up to its name.

Ten Most Memorable PC Games

The following is a list of games that have given me the best experiences over the years. Though most of them have dated graphics these games will always have a special place on my hard drive.

10:Doom

Probably one of the most influential games of all time but sadly I was a little too young to get the full enjoyment out of this title. I can still remember when it first came out and I got my hands on it. The 3D levels were amazing to look at and the demons were truly frightening.

9:Ultima Online

28.8 Kbps never entertained me more. Probably one of my first experiences with video game addiction, UO brought together thousands of people in a rich graphical world for the first time. One of the first MMORPGS on the market debuted in 1997 and is still played today. Now on its 9th expansion it still has a very active community of players. There is no end in sight for this classic.

8: Starcraft

Sure I had fun playing Warcraft and Command & Conquer but nothing can beat enjoyment of a multiplayer game of Starcraft. I remember the first time I got my ass handed to me in a game of Starcraft. I was at a LAN party and a friend popped this bad boy in his CD tray. I never really got that good at it but it was always a lot of fun.

7: Quake series

Pick a quake any quake, they were all great and they all blew my mind. Quake 1 in particular was the first true “all 3D game” and was also my first experience with networked multiplayer gaming. This is probably the game that got me to trade in my gamepad for the mouse and keyboard for good. Nothing says a good time like turning your best friend into a pile of slimy gibs.

6: The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion

This game could have made it to the list on graphics alone with its breathtaking vistas and and detailed character models. But I would be a fool to over look this games rich story and complete freedom. Probably the only downfalls of this title were the clunky console friendly interface and the every creature in the world leveled up with you. These faults were soon corrected by the modding community and almost 2 years later this game still is being played on my machine.

5: Supreme Commander

This game should be on a lot more top ten list if you ask me. The most innovative RTS to date raised the bar to stratospheric heights in the world of strategy. The strategic zoom sets this jewel apart from the pack by allowing you to zoom from tree top levels all the way to an orbital view. Control just a single unit or an entire army with just the spin of your mouse wheel. This game made my deployment to Iraq a much more enjoyable experience. Sadly I can’t say the same for my friends who just can’t win against me.

4: Unreal Tournament

The stunning graphics of this game pushed my Voodoo 3 to new levels of stress. Countless days of fragging were logged at many LAN parties around my home town. On one occasion I remember the police were called because of a mixture of a buddies new sub-woofer and the screams from victims of my flak cannon. Nothing says fun like ma- ma- MONSTER Kill!

3: World of Warcraft

Never have I felt like I made true friends in an online game before World of Warcraft. The feeling of satisfaction you get when your guild finally gets past a boss that they have been trying for weeks. The countless hours of your life wasted on trying to get that one drop you have been wanting since you installed the game. I have had to rip myself away from this game to get back to real life more times that i wish to talk about. The only problem with this game is that it is so addictive that i should warn everybody to proceed with caution.

2: Half-Life

The game that proved that a FPS could tell an interesting story. With lifelike NPCs and and a scripted event around every corner this title never left the player feeling bored. Quickly adopted by the mod community and never short of players on the hundreds of deathmatch servers this game can still please today. This was also the game that proved that a 3D accelerator is a must on any gaming rig.

1: Counter Strike

This game started out as a Halflife mod but quickly became a common site at LAN parties across the world. Still the number online shooter in the world this game redefined what multiplayer FPS’s could do. The newest version Counter Strike Source offers better physics and graphics with the same fast paced gameplay. I don’t think I will ever uninstall this classic.

Fortress Forever

Well with my slow ass internet I’ve had my share of troubles downloading Team Fortress 2. In my anger I clicked around a few popular gaming sites until I ran into an ad for Fortress Forever. FF is a Half-Life 2 mod that that brings the timeless game play of Team Fortress Classic back with a couple refreshing twists.

All of the maps and player models have taken on a new art design. Its not quite as stylized as TF2 but it sure is easy on the eyes. Die hard fans will love the frantic fast paced action and new players will enjoy the engaging mechanics of it all.

While FF will not replace TF2 I recommend that everyone at least downloads it and give it a shot. This team has done some pretty amazing things and I would hate to see such a fun game not get the recognition that it deserves. When i finally get TF2 downloaded I will do a heads up comparison and let you know how it turns out.

Welcome to PC Game Review

    Well, this is my very first post of what i hope will be many. I would like to welcome you to the newest game review blog on the net ( for the next few seconds anyway). Let me start by saying that this is not a sanctuary for all gamers, this is for the best gamers. The PC is by far the best gaming platform on the market. It has the best games, the best interface, and the best online communities. There is nothing worse than trying to control an FPS or RTS on a console. MMORPG’s also have no business on an xbox or a playstation, there is just not enough options for modding nor enough buttons on a game pad.

I will admit that consoles graphics have improved with the latest generation but even at 1080p, the newest computers are far superior. With resolutions pushing 1600×1200 its no wonder why we as PC gamers are the elite in a room full of noobs. Granted you have to pay more for a computer but most console owners already have a computer at home. Now if they would take the money of there computer and there console and add them together then you can see the true value of using your PC as your primary gaming machine.

I will close by saying that if video game platforms were cars then the PC would be a 400 horsepower Italian sports car where all the others would be domestic models. They will get you where you want to go but for true power and enjoyment, you are gonna have to spend the money and get the PC.